Chapter 315 The “Art” and Art of Meeting
Zhang Juzheng looked at the map and suddenly saw his hometown of Jiangling, Huguang.
Zhang Juzheng was suddenly startled. He finally understood what he felt was wrong!
If Huguang is ripe, the world is rich. Why do you naturally feel that food from Huguang can be transported to the capital naturally?
Zhejiang and Fujian both fell into the hands of Su Ze. If Su Ze attacked Jiangxi and cut off the Yangtze River waterway, what would be the use of saving Yangzhou.
Zhang Juzheng immediately called his subordinates from the Nanjing War Department. He looked around and said, "Quickly send an order to the governor of Nanjing and Huguang to tell them to be wary of Soviet thieves!" Everyone looked at each other, and finally it was the
Nanjing War Department who gave the order. Wang Jiaping stood up and said:
"Secretary Zhang, our Nanjing Ministry of War cannot control Jiangxi and Huguang."
Everyone turned around, and Zhang Juzheng realized that he was just the Minister of the Nanjing Ministry of War, and the emperor gave him jurisdiction over Nanzhili. Military affairs, Huguang and Jiangxi are not under his management.
Zhang Juzheng said anxiously: "I'm afraid it's too late to report to the court now! Let's write a letter in the name of the Nanjing Ministry of War to remind officials in Jiangxi and Huguang to beware of Soviet thieves!" Wang Jiaping couldn't help but remind him: "Shilang Zhang, this is not good for the system.
" It doesn't match, or would it be better to write in the name of Zhang Shilang? Besides, the Su thieves may not invade Jiangxi. If the minister's prediction is wrong, there is still room for maneuver." Zhang Juzheng was about to explode with anger. Since he took office
, , whether it is superiors, colleagues, or subordinates who are holding back, at this time, the Nanjing Military Department is still thinking about how to shirk responsibility.
Zhang Juzheng couldn't bear it any longer. He slapped the table and said, "I will download the document in the name of the Nanjing Ministry of War! In addition, continue to train the Nanjing left and right guards and move to Huizhou Prefecture. If Su Ze enters Jiangxi, order the Nanjing left and right guards to enter." Support Jiangxi!"
When Wang Jiaping and other subordinates saw that Zhang Juzheng was really angry, they agreed and began to send messages to Jiangxi and Huguang.
Just when Zhang Juzheng was being constrained by many constraints in Nanjing, in the capital, in the low tile-roofed house where the five-room secretary of the cabinet was responsible for official affairs, Wang Xijue, who was second in this year's new department, was yawning boredly while watching the officials busy.
The main responsibility of this department is to deliver official documents between the cabinet and the six ministries and five temples.
During the Tang and Song dynasties, the Wufang, the subordinate of the Zhongshu, had extremely heavy public responsibilities, and the leaders of this department were all the chief secretaries of the prime ministers. For example, when Wang Anshi was carrying out the reform, he appointed rising stars from the reform faction to this position, including Zhang Chun and Cai Que. A number of key members of the reform faction all entered the center from this position.
But in the Ming Dynasty, because Zhu Yuanzhang dismissed the prime minister, the cabinet and the political affairs hall were still different. In the early days of its establishment, the cabinet was only the emperor's advisory secretarial agency. In other words, whether it was the chief minister of the cabinet or the cabinet bachelor, he was the emperor's secretary.
Since all bachelors in the cabinet are secretaries, there is no reason to set up secretaries for secretaries. The status of the fifth secretary in the cabinet has declined sharply. Now this department does not even have official positions. It is purely composed of civil servants. department, that is, the department under the cabinet.
Wang Xijue was a dignified first-class Jinshi, second in the imperial examination, and was assigned to such a department where all officials were responsible for watching the government. It can only be said that the disgusting people in the Ming Dynasty had good skills.
A commoner who ranked lower than Wang Xijue in the imperial examination could be assigned to the Six Ministries to observe government affairs. He, who was ranked second in the imperial examination, spent all day in a low tile-roofed house, watching these officials busy. This was simply a strange situation. This is such an insult. When ordinary Jinshi are treated like this, they should resign and go home.
But Wang Xijue could not resign because Su Ze rebelled.
He is a good friend of Su Ze and once edited the "Warning" newspaper in Suzhou.
Su Ze's "Appeal to the Imperial Court" was published in the "Alert" newspaper, which has been banned by the imperial court.
Now all the colleagues in the Hanlin Academy are trying their best to avoid Wang Xijue.
Although it feels insulting to be a secretary in the cabinet and observe official affairs, it is better than being talked about and looked down upon in the Hanlin Academy.
His friends rebelled, and he founded and edited the propaganda newspaper for the rebels. The court was showing mercy by not killing him.
Wang Xijue also knew that he had no political future. Maybe the court would chop off his head one day?
It would be better to just lie down.
Wang Xijue envied Xu Shixing. As a grasshopper on a rope, Xu Shixing took an errand and went to Fuzhou. Now the whole capital was crazy about the fact that the number one scholar had followed Su Ze in rebellion.
If Su Ze hadn't rebelled when Xu Shixing went south, Xu Shixing's trip south would have been a coincidence. Wang Xijue really suspected that Xu Shixing deliberately defected to Su Ze to rebel.
The only lucky thing is that Jinke's prostitute Xu Guo has the same treatment as him. Now he is assigned to the Taipusi Department, where he specializes in overseeing government affairs in the horse breeding department.
Nowadays, Wang Xijue's comings and goings are watched by royal guards, and no one in the capital dares to party with him. His life is comparable to being in jail.
But Wang Xijue could not resign because Su Ze rebelled.
"Mr. Sun, are you here to listen to the cabinet again?"
Wang Xijue raised his head and saw a young official chatting with an old official who was in charge of the fifth office of the cabinet.
This official Wang Xijue knew him well. He had had a drink with him when he had just won the top prize in the lottery. At that time, the two of them were on good terms.
But then the situation changed dramatically and after Su Ze rebelled, the head of the official department named Sun Piyang immediately alienated himself.
Wang Xijue could only lament the warmth and warmth of human relationships.
After hearing the conversation between Sun Piyang and the old official, I knew that he was coming to the cabinet for a meeting.
The Ministry of Personnel is the nominal head of the six ministries, and its most important function is naturally the appointment of personnel in the empire.
However, the chief ministers of this dynasty, from Xia Yan to Yan Song, were all very powerful, so the cabinet deprived the official department of many powers. The "promotion" power that was originally alienated from the official department was gradually seized by the cabinet.
The so-called promotion naturally means arranging a list of officials recommended for promotion.
When the official department was strong, the list of arrangements was submitted directly to the cabinet, and then the cabinet sorted out the opinions and sent them to the emperor for approval.
Nowadays, the civil service department is weak, so naturally it cannot bypass the cabinet. There are people in charge of the civil service department like Sun Piyang. Before being promoted, they first come to the cabinet to "listen to the teachings" and have a meeting, determine the cabinet's policy, and then go back to draw up the list.
Even when Yan Song was in power, this list was directly drawn up by the cabinet itself, which was equivalent to completely depriving the Ministry of Personnel of its right to recommend personnel. This is why the Yan Party gained power.
With control of the staff department, which was responsible for the recommendation and assessment of officials, Yan Song could naturally push his own people to high positions and depose and exile those who opposed him.
However, after Xu Jie took office as the chief minister of the cabinet, his governing slogan was "Return the power and blessings to the Lord, return government affairs to the officials, and sacrifice punishments to reward justice."
Now that I have said this, naturally I can no longer use Yan Song's original method.
Although he said this, Sun Piyang felt bitter.
He has come to the cabinet three times, and Mr. Xu Ge was dissatisfied with the list each time. He could not decide on the list for this promotion for twenty days.
This is the third time the list has been drawn up. If Mr. Xu Ge is still dissatisfied, he will be reprimanded by his superiors again when he returns.
This time Sun Piyang had no choice. He took out a silver ingot from his sleeve, handed it to the old official and said, "
Please tell Ge Sili how to draw up this list so that he can be satisfied with it?"
Such a scene , Wang Xijue has seen it many times.
Although there are no officials in the Wufang Office of the Cabinet Zhongshu, and it does not have the prominent status of the Tang and Song Dynasties, it does not mean that this department is unimportant. These officials enter and leave the cabinet every day, and are also responsible for uploading and issuing memorials and documents to the cabinet. In fact, they are very close to the core decision-making circle.
It may seem like an inconspicuous position, but it actually has many different paths.
For example, when it is time to submit official documents, various government offices will send official documents. If it is bad news, then they have to bribe these officials and insert it into the official documents announcing the good news, or send it to the cabinet elders when they are in a good mood.
If you don't take care of it, if a junior staff member sends your ministry's official document to the cabinet boss when he is in a bad mood, he will definitely be scolded or directly rejected by the cabinet.
There is also the case of Sun Piyang. The cabinet is always dissatisfied with the things he does, but the cabinet minister does not say where he is dissatisfied.
At this time, the only option is to bribe these old officials. They have been working in the cabinet for a long time, and they know the thoughts of the cabinet elders better than the officials.
Sun Pi raised the money, and the old official surnamed Ge said:
"If you ask me, it's strange that you are satisfied with this list prepared by your official department." "
Su Ze rebelled in Fujian and Zhejiang, and the court was already tolerant. , officials of Zhejiang and Fujian origins in the imperial court were not investigated, but how come there are officials of Zhejiang and Fujian origins in the list promoted by your Ministry of Civil Affairs? Even if this is approved by Xu Ge, the Chief of Ceremonies will not approve it."
After all, Sun Piyang is young, and he is the head of the Ministry of Personnel. The list of promotions drawn up is only for minor officials below the sixth rank.
He said: "Didn't the cabinet say that the Soviet thieves rebelled and would not pursue the officials from Fujian and Zhejiang? Then, aren't the three friends of the Soviet thieves still staying in the Hanlin Academy? We, the Ministry of Civil Affairs, have inspected the proposed officials this time. Yes, there is absolutely no collusion with the Soviet thieves."
The old official immediately said: "It's a relief that the court doesn't pursue the case! Isn't this how powerful the Su thieves are? The court just doesn't pursue the case, and it doesn't say that it will let your staff work for the officials of Fujian and Zhejiang. Promote!"
"You officials, don't you guess His Majesty's wishes? If you still promote officials from Fujian and Zhejiang at this time, and if they follow Su Ze and rebel, what will your officials do? What will happen to the cabinet? You would rather kill someone by mistake. Qian, don't let one go!"
Sun Piyang finally lowered his head and said, "Then I won't go visit Mr. Ge today. I will go back and make changes before coming back."
The old official named Ge received the money, and he was worthy of it. , he added:
"Next time, the list of promotions will be transcribed with gold-plated hairpin posts, and the format here must be written in the same format. By the way, this person's name violates the taboo of grandfather Xuge, so don't list him. "
Next time you and your officials come to 'ask for advice', come back in the afternoon. Usually there are less official affairs in the cabinet at that time, and the cabinet minister has just had a rest and is in a better mood. Don't send it early in the morning." Sun Piyang quickly expressed his thanks
. Then he left the cabinet in a hurry.
Wang Xijue felt nauseated for no reason.
At the same time, Su Ze was behind the screen in the Fuzhou Shipping Division's meeting hall, listening to the officials of the Fuzhou Shipping Division discussing matters.
Eunuch Tao has been reporting illness since he was frightened last time. The Fuzhou Shipping Department now has several young eunuchs discussing matters with the officials from various departments of the Shipping Department.
Su Ze really didn't have any spare talents under his command, so he just let the Fuzhou Shipping Division run like this. Unexpectedly, there had been no mistakes in the Fuzhou Shipping Division during this period. Su Ze remembered and came to the Fuzhou Shipping Division to inspect.
The person who received Su Ze was a young father-in-law under Tao Gonggong. This young eunuch, whose surname was Yan, had been working with Tao Gonggong. Because he was familiar with the work of the city shipping company, Su Ze designated him as the temporary head of the city shipping company.
"Nothing has gone wrong in the Shipping Department during these days. Eunuch Yan has done a good job." "The Governor is very
complimentary. This period of time in the Shipping Department is the result of everyone's collective efforts. Xiao Yanzi dare not take credit." "
Don't use it in the future. Xiao Yanzi claimed that you are all officials of the Governor's Mansion and are no longer servants of the palace."
Eunuch Xiao Yan felt warmed after hearing this.
Su Ze asked curiously: "Work together? How did you do it?"
Eunuch Xiaoyan said: "There will be a meeting at the Shipping Department soon. If the Governor is interested, you will know." "
However, please invite the Governor to sit on the screen. Listen in later."
Su Ze asked doubtfully: "Why?"
"The Governor is here, I am afraid that everyone will not dare to speak."
"This is easy to handle."
Su Ze nodded. He was sitting behind the screen and was not present in the meeting hall. Inside.
The people attending the meeting this time were officials from several departments of the Municipal Shipping Department, plus the two battalion commanders responsible for anti-smuggling. Judging from the standards of the Ming Dynasty, all the civil and military officials of high rank present, including eunuch Xiaoyan, were present. No, they are all subordinates.
Eunuch Xiaoyan took out a piece of gavel, patted it and said: "Today's topic was notified to everyone yesterday. It is about the issue of businessmen in the Ryukyu mission seeking personal gain and helping the Japanese country to smuggle new coins. We should still follow the old rules. , each person has one stick of incense, and everyone will speak in turn."
"Let's start with the Anti-Smuggling Department."
An old official stood up and said:
"Last year, our Anti-Smuggling Department's random inspection revealed the problem of the outflow of new currency. The Japanese country is short of money. Tao Gonggong's newly minted Sanxian coins were of excellent quality and were very popular in the Japanese country. So the Japanese businessmen entrusted the Ryukyu mission to collect more new coins in Fujian. Our anti-smuggling department has discovered six cases of smuggling copper coins out to sea." "The outflow of copper coins
, The money shortage in Fuzhou is a major matter that should be reported to the Governor's Office."
After the old official finished speaking, Eunuch Xiaoyan asked the next official to speak.
Su Ze was surprised to find that although these officials were not highly educated and had a shallow understanding of monetary economics, under the auspices of Eunuch Xiaoyan, they gradually discussed this issue clearly.
The problem is very simple, that is, the Japanese country does not have qualified coinage technology, so it has been using copper coins from the Ming Dynasty.
Since Tao Gonggong minted the three immortal coins, this kind of exquisite copper coins became popular in Japan. Businessmen from Japan offered large sums of money. Some businessmen in the Ryukyu mission saw the profits and smuggled copper coins in Fuzhou.
Currency outflow was indeed a thorny issue in the era of mercantilism. These officials took turns to speak and actually explained the issue clearly.
Eunuch Xiaoyan presided over the meeting and did not express any opinions on this issue, but maintained the order of the meeting.
For example, when others are speaking, Mr. Xiaoyan will stop others from interrupting and allow the speaker to fully express his or her views.
Or when the discussion goes off topic, Mr. Xiaoyan will bring it back to the topic.
If there is a personal attack or an unrelated argument, Mr. Xiao Yan will severely reprimand the attacker, stop off-topic discussions, and insist on discussing only the topic itself, without discussing the speaker's position and tendency, and will never allow blame or debate. .
The meeting was very long and took many detours, but the issues were discussed comprehensively, and several departments in charge also put forward their own opinions.
Isn't this the prototype of Robert's procedure?
(End of chapter)